dcubedsw
Registered
My friends and I went to Aruba in May 2009. We're all around the 30-dive mark, so we're comfortable and know what we're doing, but we still have a lot of "real-life experience" to learn. An important point for me was that the Mermaid Dive team was cautious to exactly the right level: pre-brief was thorough and serious (around terrible jokes), gear and set-up was checked surreptitiously on the boat, air was checked not-at-all surreptitiously before we went off the back, we were watched carefully the first dive until they were sure we were OK, and safety stops were mandatory. Also, I found the dive team to be terrifically experienced and keen to impart their knowledge to those who asked questions about fish, fins, dive sites, and diving in general. Finally, the guys have been diving Aruban waters for (literally) decades, and that makes a big difference in what they can find underwater (eels, rays, octopus, and all manner of fish) and explain above.
We dived four days straight (including a night dive that was not terribly spectacular in terms of coral and creatures), and the most we had on board was 10 divers (on one day). Any more than that could get a little crowded I imagine.
I didn't have, nor hear, any problems or complaints with the equipment (BCs, regs and tanks were all good quality), nor did we have long-delayed schedules and waiting around as reported in other reviews. This is diving after all - I don't consider a 10 minute wait for a lift back to the shop to be all that much of an issue when on holiday.
Some aspects of the operation are rough and ready; the boat and bus are hardly 5-star quality and the gear is not brand-spanking new, but - again - this is diving on a remote island. The experience and attitude of the operators is the most important thing for enjoyment and safety, and I could barely fault them on those. If I had to make any criticism it would be that on a couple of the dives the dive team was too fast and/or stopped over-long to look at stuff underwater, which posed concern - but no real problem - with respect to air usage. However, the day we had two first-time open water divers with us, the dive master was extremely attentive and careful with them. So perhaps they are a little laissez-faire with the groups they consider don't require careful hand-holding.
We dived four days straight (including a night dive that was not terribly spectacular in terms of coral and creatures), and the most we had on board was 10 divers (on one day). Any more than that could get a little crowded I imagine.
I didn't have, nor hear, any problems or complaints with the equipment (BCs, regs and tanks were all good quality), nor did we have long-delayed schedules and waiting around as reported in other reviews. This is diving after all - I don't consider a 10 minute wait for a lift back to the shop to be all that much of an issue when on holiday.
Some aspects of the operation are rough and ready; the boat and bus are hardly 5-star quality and the gear is not brand-spanking new, but - again - this is diving on a remote island. The experience and attitude of the operators is the most important thing for enjoyment and safety, and I could barely fault them on those. If I had to make any criticism it would be that on a couple of the dives the dive team was too fast and/or stopped over-long to look at stuff underwater, which posed concern - but no real problem - with respect to air usage. However, the day we had two first-time open water divers with us, the dive master was extremely attentive and careful with them. So perhaps they are a little laissez-faire with the groups they consider don't require careful hand-holding.
